E huri te aro ki te tai o te rāwhiti, ko te uranga o te rā.  He ao, he ao, he ao hou 

Our school waharoa greets visitors as they enter the school via the main pathway.  It was designed and made by Fayne Robinson, a renowned Ngai Tahu master carver.  The two panels are constructed of cortens steel with a fibreglass backing separating each side from the other, which allows for the designs to be highlighted during the day, and for the internal lighting system to illuminate at night.  

Waharoa brochure 

Rapuara encapsulates the concept of ‘many paths’ or ‘picking pathways’.

This area provides a place for children to play and explore.  Here they can create a range of play experiences around the different parts - a tunnel, rocks to clamber over, a hill to slide or roll down, beams for walking across, stepping stones, tiered wooden blocks, and other natural features.  Other areas are a sandpit complete with outdoor kitchen, seating areas and a small tiered amphitheatre.  It is a place to discover, imagine and use in many different ways. 

Papa Whakāri is an outdoor performing space.

This area is a platform, stage and plaza where children can express themselves, share their skills, talents and performances.  It is also a gathering space where large groups can meet to welcome visitors, act as the marae atea for powhiri, a place to be enjoyed and a place where you can be entertained.  The tiered seating provides a space to sit and relax, to be with friends or to allow for outdoor learning.

Ohomauri means to awaken the senses.

The area provides children with opportunities to experiment with sand and water, create play experiences for themselves around a range of obstacles, or sit quietly amongst the newly planted raised garden beds.  There are seating areas to allow for learning to flow from the studios to the outdoors and provide places for socialising with friends.  This area also encompasses our orchard and vegetable garden, complete with a butterfly garden, compost area and worm farm.  We also have a ‘loose part shed’ full of different items and materials that children can use to create and build anything that their imagination allows.

Hikihiki is the excitement building up within you.  

The playground area provides children with opportunities to play together with friends, to swing, to slide, to move, to spin, to climb and to be excited.  It also encompasses a natural forest play space for creating their own exciting stories and play.  The wider area also includes a scooter track, climbing trees and native plantings.

The climbing frame provides an opportunity for children to test their boundaries, to take risks and to ascend to the highest peak of the rope frame.   The climbing frame provided another opportunity for us to weave in a reference to our eastern location and our vision of 'Rising Above the Ordinary'.  

Explanation of our Climbing Frame 

This mosaic was created by the Year 2 & 3 students in Papatūānuku studio in 2020, then finished and installed in 2021.  The students wanted to illustrate what this place would have looked like if they looked out their studio windows in the past.  Within the mosaic is each of the birds and plants that feature on all of the studios window manifestations.  

In 2017, Rāwhiti School won a competition to became the permanent home for the Pod Oasis.  This structure was designed for the 2014 Ellerslie Flower Show where it won a Silver Distinction.  The pods are designed to look like kōwhai tree seed pods.  The pods were used throughout Re:Start Mall, the temporary inner city mall.  When construction began on the permanent buildings in the area, the garden and pods were relocated to our site.

On the field side of our building we have created spaces that are an extension of the learning studios.  Each pair of studio shares a space that has areas for seating and places where students can work and play together.  These areas also feature seating in the shape of surfboards and driftwood structures, to reference our coastal location.  Throughout there is native planting and matching elements from our other outdoor spaces.

To celebrate 10 years of Rāwhiti School the BOT commissioned a large-scale mural for the pool wall.  The design team worked with our students to create the design featuring key elements from our cultural narrative, environment and local area.  

Click for further information about our mural